17: A Cacophonous Classroom: Delighting in the Bountiful Souq

Being in the souq is a battle of wit and will. It’s a battle of wit because haggling demands cleverness. It’s a battle of will because haggling requires endurance. Those who are savvy and able to withstand round after round of offers and counter-offers and all the intellectual sparring that this entails exit the souq triumphantly. Without either of these qualities, the souq can otherwise seem like a cacophony of sights, sounds, and smells that bombard the senses and disorient those uninitiated to this setting and its stalls, vendors, and the body language of buying and selling. This is one way of seeing the souq.